I recently spent a month on assignment for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in Afghanistan covering the war. Having spent nearly two months in Pakistan earlier in the year, we traveled to Afghanistan to document the coalition forces efforts to secure the border with Pakistan. Myself and colleague Betsy Hiel, our newspaper's foreign corespondent, were embedded with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division in the Khost Province of Afghanistan. Our stories, photos and videos will be running throughout the week in both print and online. Check out the website www.pghtrib.com to see more.

I've always said that you should never miss an opportunity to watch a sunset. Today's did not disappoint. As I was driving, I rushed to find a place to watch the final moments of it and couldn't resist making a photograph.

Andrea Brichacek, 23, of Castle Shannon, a designer with ocreations, a design firm on the South Side enjoys the company of her dog, Moe, a teacup chihuahua at work with her. Brichacek says "Its not a good day unless its a Moe day," speaking of days that Moe is with her at work.

About Me

Justin Merriman, an award-winning photojournalist has spent more than a decade traveling the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters and civil unrest. His work has appeared in leading national and international publications and he has received numerous top journalism awards. After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its War on Terror. He has followed this story across the US and into the war zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt's revolution and subsequent unrest, and most recently, Russia's invasion of Crimea and the international crisis that unfolded in Ukraine. Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg.